10 Things You Can Do Today For A Happy Earth Day
Published in: Lifestyle
10 Things You Can Do Today For A Happy Earth Day from The Happiness Alliance - home of the Happiness Initiative and Gross National Happiness Index
Transcript
- 1. Happy Earth Day
- 2. things you can do today for your happiness and the planet10 happycounts.org
- 3. Social Support Give A Big Hug Science tells us that a hug of at least 20 seconds reduces stress and increases our feeling of happiness. When we are happier, we problem solve better.
- 4. Psychological Health Give yourself the gift of spending an extra 5 minutes a day in nature for the next week just appreciating. Sit in your garden or take a walk in a park, or get out of town. Recent happiness studies tell us that our happiest place is in nature. Feeling connected to the earth inspires us to continue work to save it. Spend Time in Nature
- 5. Health Go Veggie for a Day A Week Meat production takes a toll on the earth’s resources. Eat vegetarian for one day a week for the next month. See how it feels. Chances are you will feel better and you’ll be giving mother earth a break.
- 6. Standard of Living/Material Well-being/Economy Step up Your Savings… Reducing spending and consumption reduces demand on natural resources. Save your money, find ways to do more with less and enjoy the simple things in life. and invest with socially responsible investment funds and banks.
- 7. Arts & culture Discover Lore Learn the lore about nature told by the indigenous people of the land where you now live. What were the creation of the earth stories that the native people told? What stories were told about seasons, planting, harvesting and hunting?
- 8. Governance If you are not politically active, take a small step like sending an email to your city or county council about something you believe would make a healthier planet or learning more about grassroots efforts in your area. Get Political If you are politically active, good on you! Join with others like you to find more ways to make it easier for those who feel disempowered to get involved.
- 9. Environment Plant a Treeit’s cliché but it’s that important If you don’t have the land for a tree, find a local non- profit that is maintaining, conserving or restoring natural habitats and donate or volunteer. (Caveat: be careful of scams on this one – investing locally helps make sure your action is meaningful) From prehistoric times to before the industrial revolution trees were revered. This may be in part because people knew from experience that trees are indispensible for life on our planet.
- 10. Time Balance Eat Slow Food Eat fast food one less time a week for the next month and instead prepare your own lunch or dinner one more time a week for the next month. Use ingredients with recyclable, compostable or no packaging. See how it feels.
- 11. Work Rethink the Commute In the short term: Use public transportation Bike when you can Carpool and Telecommute more If you already do this – brag about what a great commute you have to co-workers in a nice way…to inspire them! In the long term, live within walking distance to work!
- 12. Community Talk about the Planet Community has formidable power. Simply taking the time to talk about important issues with your friends, colleagues and neighbors can build bonds and inspire action for our planet.
- 13. It’s a big job, and we are at the tipping point.
- 14. Join the Happiness Revolution Take the Gross National Happiness Index Use the Gross National Happiness Index for your project or area happycounts.org